Motifs

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Literature

Literary references occur throughout The Outsiders, helping
us understand how the characters in the novel view themselves
and those around them. Ponyboy first alludes to a work of literature
in Chapter 1, when he compares himself to
Pip from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations.
Ponyboy identifies with Pip because he, like Pip, is orphaned, impoverished,
and struggling to make sense of the world. Additionally Ponyboy
and Johnny put special emphasis on Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing
Gold Can Stay,” which helps them understand that growing up and
facing reality is a necessary part of life. Finally, Johnny likens
Dally to a Southern gentleman in Gone with the Wind.
Having this idealized vision of Dally makes Johnny able to understand
him.

Literature not only creates a bond between Ponyboy and
the other characters, as when he discusses books with Cherry and
reads to Johnny, but it also creates a cyclic premise for the narrative
itself. We find out at the novel’s end that the narrative of The
Outsiders is in fact an autobiographical work that Ponyboy
is writing in order to pass his English class. This revelation confirms
the importance of literature in the story as a means of connecting
with others.

Eye Shape and Color

Though Hinton gives thorough physical descriptions of
all her characters, she places particular importance on their eyes.
Characters’ eyes represent key facets of their personalities. For
example, Darry and Dally—the two boys with whom Ponyboy feels the
least comfortable—have icy blue eyes. Dally’s eyes, in particular,
are narrow. The narrator considers these two characters to be hard,
even heartless, and the narrowness and cool hues of their eyes reflect
their invulnerability. Hinton repeatedly defines Johnny Cade, on
the other hand, by his wide, black eyes. In correspondence with
his eye shape and color, Johnny is generally nervous, gentle, and
vulnerable to attack.

Ponyboy’s Losses of Consciousness

During the second half of the novel, beginning with the
scene at the burning church, Ponyboy loses consciousness multiple
times. It might seem strange at first to have a narrator slip in
and out of mental clarity and thus miss out on entire spans of plot
development. However, it makes sense that Hinton would distance
her narrator temporarily in this manner, as this gives us, as well
as Ponyboy, a needed rest from the intense action. This device also
allows for events to be recounted after they happen, so that Ponyboy
can sift through unnecessary details.